You had several partnerships, notably with Bernardo Sassetti and Manuela Azevedo, how these opportunities arise?
JF: We thought about people we would like to work from the first record like with Ana Deus and the invitation was made in the same way to the others.
But you want them as a musical opposition isn't?
AC: Yes, we are interest in this. By both shock and see what happens, because less predictable becomes the outcome and is what interests us, because if we wanted do something where we had a lot of control we did it ourselves. We like to give to someone else our music and see how they interpret and what they do.
And what did you think of Bernardo and Manuela?
AC: It was horrible in general! (Laughs). Of course not, it was great. In the case of Bernardo Sassetti he was an extraordinary musician and it was super easy to talk to and we enjoyed our amateurism and see that it was spectacular. With Manuela we exchanged some emails and in the first takes we were flabbergasted, she made more than one, on her own initiative and only for a discharge of consciousness, but we never noticed the difference. It's great working with these people because they put us in our place and give a new richness to our music.
You are thinking about continuing this kind of experience and have thought on the name of other people who you would like to collaborate?
JF: I do not know, this last work "peixe:avião" we did not feel it was necessary. We did it in the past because it made sense and not just because.
AC: This work turned out to be a bit a return to the roots, answering a question that you did not made (laughs). It was the first time in eight years that we have done what is normal bands do initially this to be together and discover a sound. It was something we've never done actually although we play and know each other musically very well. Maybe that's why, that resulted in this music work. It was done by the five together, released by the record label that we have created, everything done for us, although the third was more the "do it yourself" and in that sense it's good we did not have any participation, we're just five and record is called fish: airplane, because we are like that.
When ou started to work in your first albums had the notion that they were doing something different musically?
JF: Our music is not unlike many bands of the Portuguese panorama, or European and even American. We have the particularity of having a certain sound and singing in Portuguese. Within that, we have to have personality and do something that was distinguishable and there is now no longer just a sound, we get several distinct sounds of the band throughout our career, perhaps now what we have is the most characteristic of all, most likely.
What is the record that define you as a band?
JF: It is the last. The namesake.
And terms of the next step, already considered the internationalization of these Portuguese sound.
JF: We never thought much of it.
AC: I think it's more important to deepen our market, the Portuguese public.
But there are Portuguese public spread around the world.
AC: Yes, but what ends up getting a little there. Organize a world tour with the Portuguese communities is complicated because it is a dispersed audience and it must be our audience, ie, the share of the audience who likes peixe: avião is too small. Never really thought about it a lot with this band because we sang in Portuguese and it makes sense what we do here. If we have a fantastic opportunity, we will not refuse, but maybe our playing field is in Portugal, at least for now.
And nationally, Portugal is very fond of their alternative musicians? Are you aware that you make this kind of music?
AC: Yes, of course. And I think that there is more openness from some ten years now for the music made in Portugal. But for independent and alternative music even more, I think that there is more critical voices in music, it is easier to prove these bands and even radios support them. It also has to do a little with the economic crisis the partners themselves support concerts and small festivals has a higher notion that there is quality in our country and there is no need to go out, spending 15 times more to bring an artist to sing for a whole festival, it is possible to have good national music. I think there is very good music made in our country.
JF: Either way there there is more way to go. We need to create more public for the independent music we do and what other bands also do. Many people have woken up to this, not only for Portuguese bands, but also for other more international genre. I think though, there is a very heavy burden of what might be generically called commercial music, many people still do not know which alternative music exists and that our market can expand even more.
